According to Islamic theology the world is divided into two spheres – the “House of Peace” (or Dar al- Salaam) and the “House of War” (the Dar al-Harb). Those living under Islamic Shari’a law belong to the House of Peace, wherein they are told they enjoy the most advanced civilization anywhere and thus live in paradise on earth! Theirs is a superior religion and culture, and those outside of it are inferior and infidels who have to be brought into submission to Islam and Shari’a by jihad (holy war).There is just one small problem: Those living in the House of Peace are now everywhere in revolt. They are tired of its oppression and brutality and would prefer to live like those in the House of War, who are supposedly inferior in every way. Revolution is in the air because those living in this supposed paradise discovered that it meant the removal of their freedoms and human rights and their subjugation under the heel of hereditary despots, murderers and thugs who, in the name of Islam, have robbed them of their human dignity.To put it bluntly, there is no “bright shining city on a hill” in the Islamic world giving credibility to their utopian claims. The house has fallen! It has split open and thereby laid bare the truth for all to see.No wonder the Islamic bloc has been desperately trying to get a resolution passed in the United Nations that will effectively make it against the law globally to criticize Islam. They knew all along how bad things were and wanted to cover it all up. Too bad that Twitter, Face Book and text messaging came along in the “nick of time” to reveal the truth!Many peoples of the region are tired of the theocratic rule of Islam that has only kept them poor, enslaved, illiterate and subjugated, even though the region enjoys fabulous oil wealth.By the way, where has all this wealth gone? The answer is simple: into the pockets of the ruling elites and for buying up the West.Is it not incredible that Israel’s national economic output exceeds that of most nations in the region combined! Could this have something to do with democracy and freedom? Another thing that has emerged from this spreading revolution in the region is that Israel is not the real apartheid state of the Middle East – it is the Arab nations! In this House of Peace, there has been no democracy, no freedom of religion, no equality under the law for minorities, no freedom of the press, no equal rights for women, no independent judiciary and no freedom of speech. I grew up in a country like this: South Africa. Thank God, this house also fell, because a house built on oppression and human rights abuses must eventually implode. South Africa did just this, as the House of Islam is doing today. For sure, the only shining city on a hill in the region is Israel. Of course, all this is definitely not politically correct to say. Yet the truth is finally out, and not because of the West or the United Nations or the European Union. They were too busy kissing Muammar Gaddafi in his tent. Rather, it was because men and women, mostly the young, took to the streets of the Islamic world and insisted enough was enough. Their revolution has surprised everyone, especially those with sophisticated intelligence services. But it underlines the fact that, in the end truth will prevail and shine like a great light in the darkness. We only hope that, once the dust settles, the “house” that emerges will be a kind, compassionate and peaceful one, where all are free and protected – actually, much like Israel! Viva the revolution! Rev. Hedding is executive director of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem; www.icej.org/
